Plush Toy With Changeable Facial Expressions

ABSTRACT

A plush toy having a face with features such as eyes, nose mouth and ears. The plush toy has a first bendable member above the eyes on the face and a second bendable member on the upper edge, lower edge, or both of the mouth. The bendable members are elongated and are covered with a cushioning material such as rubber, plastic or cloth, and are secured along their length to the face of the toy, for example, within a channel formed of cloth or other material.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/331,768 filed by the present inventor on May 4, 2016.

The aforementioned provisional patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

None.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to plush toys, and more particularly to plush toys having faces.

Brief Description of the Related Art

A wide variety of plush toys, puppets and toy purses are known in the toy industry. Example includes the toys disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,721,385 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0349549, which are hereby incorporated by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is a plush toy having a body member, an eye on said body member, a sleeve on said body member above said eye, a bendable wire having first and second ends within said sleeve, a protective coating on said bendable wire, and a supplemental protective material wrapped around at least said first and second ends of said bendable wire, with the wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond the first and second ends of said bendable wire. The wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond said first and second ends of said bendable wire is fixed to said sleeve or said body member. The bendable wire can be bent into a plurality of different positions to create different facial expressions on said body member. The supplemental protective material may comprises cloth, rubber, neoprene, plastic, vinyl or any other material suitable for preventing the ends of the bendable wire from coming through the sleeve or material of the body member. The plush toy may further comprise a mouth and/or tongue on said body member, a second sleeve on said body member below said mouth or tongue, a second bendable wire within said sleeve, said second bendable wire having first and second ends, and a supplemental protective material wrapped around at least said first and second ends of said second bendable wire, said wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond the first and second ends of said second bendable wire. The wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond said first and second ends of said second bendable wire is fixed to said second sleeve or said body member; and wherein said second bendable wire can be bent into a plurality of different positions to create different facial expressions on said body member. The plush toy may further comprise a plurality of appendages connected to said body member. The plush toy comprises an animal such as a dog, a cat, a bear, a rabbit, a lamb, a cow, a hippopotamus, a pig, a leopard, a lion, a unicorn, a tiger, a dinosaur or any other animal, real or fictitious. The plush toy further may be a normally inanimate object such as a car, train, bus, plane, pillow or book having a face.

In another embodiment, the present invention is a plush toy in the shape of an animal having a body and head. The head has a first facial feature and a second facial feature below said first facial feature. An upper bendable wire assembly is fixed to said head above said first facial feature and a lower bendable wire assembly first to said head below said second facial feature. The upper and lower bendable wire assemblies each comprise a sleeve, a bendable wire within said sleeve, said bendable wire having first and second ends, a protective coating on said bendable wire, and a supplemental protective material around each of said first and second ends of said bendable wire, each said supplemental protective material extending beyond one of said first and second ends of said bendable wire, wherein said supplemental protective material extending beyond said one of said ends of said bendable wire is fixed to said sleeve or said head. The bendable wire in each of said first and second bendable wire assemblies can be bent into a plurality of different positions to create different facial expressions on said plush toy. The first facial feature may comprise, for example, an eye or a nose. The eye may be open or closed. The second facial feature may comprises, for example, a mouth a tongue or a nose.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply by illustrating a preferable embodiments and implementations. The present invention is also capable of other and different embodiments and its several details can be modified in various obvious respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive. Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1A-D are front views of a face of a plush toy in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention with the face in different configurations.

FIG. 2A is a partial side view of a plush toy in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is an exploded partial side view of a plush toy in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a bendable wire assembly inserted into a plush toy in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of a bendable wire assembly of a plush toy in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the inventions are described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate an embodiment of the present invention in the form a puppy plush toy. The plush toy 100 has a body member or head 110 having facial features such as eyes 144, a nose 146, a mouth 148 and ears 142 forming a face. A first positioning member 120 is secured to the face of the plush toy above the eyes 144. A second positioning member 130 is secured to the plush toy on the bottom edge of the mouth 148. The plush toy has a plurality of appendages that may be legs 152, arms, tails 154, ears, etc. The appendages further may have a structure member or members such as a wire or a rigid within them to provide stiffness such as in a leg or bendability such as in a tail. As can be seen in FIGS. 1A-1D, a virtually limitless variety of expressions can be created on the face of the plush toy by positioning the first and second bendable members 120, 130.

As shown in FIGS. 2A-2B and 3A-3B In a preferred embodiment, the first and second positioning members 120, 130 are bendable wires 350 that are coated with a protective material or coating 240 such as rubber, foam or flexible plastic and are within a sleeve 310 that is a part of or connected to the face material 112 of the plush toy 100. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the sleeve(s) 310 may be formed by one or more sew lines or stitches 210 in the face material 112. The friction between the wire outer coating 240 and the sleeve 310, as well as the stitching or sew line 210 used to fasten the coated wire/sleeve assembly, helps to prevent fatigue and prevents the ends of the wires 350 from breaking through the face material 112 of the plush toy. For further protection again the ends of the wires coming through the face material 112, extra cloth or other supplemental protective material 220 is wrapped around the wires 350, particularly near and at the ends of the wires. While cloth is used as the supplemental protective material in the disclosed embodiment, one of skill in the art will understand that many other types of supplemental protective materials, such as rubber, neoprene, foam, wool, plastic, vinyl, or the like, may be used. This supplemental protective material 220 extends beyond the ends of the wires 350. The material beyond the ends of the wires 350 is sewn to the face material 112 of the plush toy the secure the ends to the body material. Thus, the ends of the wires 350 are effectively fixed to the face material 112 but the remainder of the wires 350 can slide with the sleeve to permit the wires to be bent into a virtually limitless number of different positions.

While the preferred embodiment includes two positioning members, the invention also may be used with a single positioning member or with more than two positioning members. Additionally, while the drawings of the referred embodiment show a dog (or puppy), a cat, a bear, a rabbit, a lamb, a cow, a hippopotamus, a pig, a leopard, a lion , a tiger and a dinosaur or a snake may be used. Similarly, fictitious entities or figures having faces, such as cars, trucks, airplanes, books, cyclops, aliens or anything else could be used.

The term “body member” used herein is used to refer to the structure on which the face appears. In FIG. 1, the puppy's face is affixed to the puppy's body such that the “body member” is both the animal's head and the animal's body. In other embodiments, such as a monkey, the “body member” may the monkey's head and the monkey may have an additional structure that represents the monkey's body. In such an embodiment the plush toy would have both a “body” and a “body member.” The “body member” in such an embodiment would represent the monkey's head with the facial features attached to that “body member.” The “body” would be the monkey's torso and would have a plurality of appendages such as arms, legs and a tail attached thereto. One of skill in the art of plush toys will understand that many variations are possible, such a giving the plush toy a shape to effectively create a pillow.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto, and their equivalents. The entirety of each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated by reference herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A plush toy comprising: a body member; an eye on said body member; a sleeve on said body member above said eye; a bendable wire within said sleeve, said bendable wire having first and second ends; a protective coating on said bendable wire; and supplemental protective material wrapped around at least said first and second ends of said bendable wire, said wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond the first and second ends of said bendable wire; wherein said wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond said first and second ends of said bendable wire is fixed to said sleeve or said body member; and wherein said bendable wire can be bent into a plurality of different positions to create different facial expressions on said body member.
 2. The plush toy according to claim 1 wherein said supplemental protective material comprises cloth.
 3. The plush toy according to claim 1 wherein said supplemental protective material comprises at least one of rubber, neoprene, plastic and vinyl.
 4. The plush toy according to claim 1 further comprising: a mouth on said body member; a second sleeve on said body member below said mouth; a second bendable wire within said sleeve, said second bendable wire having first and second ends; and supplemental protective material wrapped around at least said first and second ends of said second bendable wire, said wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond the first and second ends of said second bendable wire; wherein said wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond said first and second ends of said second bendable wire is fixed to said second sleeve or said body member; and wherein said second bendable wire can be bent into a plurality of different positions to create different facial expressions on said body member.
 5. The plush toy according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of appendages connected to said body member.
 6. The plush toy according to claim 5 wherein said appendages comprise at least one of an arm, a leg, a tail and an ear.
 7. The plush toy according to claim 1 wherein said plush toy comprises one of a dog, a cat, a bear, a rabbit, a lamb, a cow, a hippopotamus, a pig, a leopard, a lion , a tiger, a unicorn, a dinosaur, a car, a bus, a train, an airplane, a pillow and a book.
 8. The plush toy according to claim 4 wherein said plush toy comprises one of a monkey, dog, a cat, a bear, a horse, a unicorn, an alien and a dinosaur.
 9. A plush toy in the shape of an animal comprising: a body; a head; a first facial feature on said head; a second facial feature on said head below said first facial feature; an upper bendable wire assembly fixed to said head above said first facial feature; a lower bendable wire assembly first to said head below said second facial feature; where said upper and lower bendable wire assemblies each comprise: a sleeve; a bendable wire within said sleeve, said bendable wire having first and second ends; a protective coating on said bendable wire; and a supplemental protective material around each of said first and second ends of said bendable wire, each said supplemental protective material extending beyond one of said first and second ends of said bendable wire, wherein said supplemental protective material extending beyond said one of said ends of said bendable wire is fixed to said sleeve or said head; wherein the bendable wire in each of said first and second bendable wire assemblies can be bent into a plurality of different positions to create different facial expressions on said plush toy.
 10. The plush toy according to claim 8, wherein said first facial feature comprises an eye.
 11. The plush toy according to claim 9, wherein said second facial feature comprises a mouth.
 12. A plush toy comprising: a body member; a facial feature on said body member; a sleeve on said body member above said facial feature; a bendable wire within said sleeve, said bendable wire having first and second ends; a protective coating on said bendable wire; and supplemental protective material wrapped around at least said first and second ends of said bendable wire, said wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond the first and second ends of said bendable wire; wherein said wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond said first and second ends of said bendable wire is fixed to said sleeve or said body member; and wherein said bendable wire can be bent into a plurality of different positions to create different facial expressions on said body member.
 13. The plush toy according to claim 12 wherein said supplemental protective material comprises cloth.
 14. The plush toy according to claim 12 wherein said supplemental protective material comprises at least one of rubber, neoprene, plastic and vinyl.
 15. The plush toy according to claim 12 further comprising: a second facial on said body member; a second sleeve on said body member below said second facial feature; a second bendable wire within said sleeve, said second bendable wire having first and second ends; and supplemental protective material wrapped around at least said first and second ends of said second bendable wire, said wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond the first and second ends of said second bendable wire; wherein said wrapped supplemental protective material extending beyond said first and second ends of said second bendable wire is fixed to said second sleeve or said body member; and wherein said second bendable wire can be bent into a plurality of different positions to create different facial expressions on said body member.
 16. A plush toy according to claim 12 wherein said body member comprises a head.
 17. A plush toy according to claim 16 further comprising a body connected to said head, wherein said body has a plurality of appendages attached thereto.
 18. The plush toy according to claim 12 further comprising a plurality of appendages connected to said body member.
 19. The plush toy according to claim 12 wherein said plush toy comprises one of a dog, a cat, a bear, a rabbit, a lamb, a cow, a hippopotamus, a pig, a leopard, a lion , a tiger, a unicorn, a dinosaur, a car, a bus, a train, an airplane, a pillow and a book.
 20. The plush toy according to claim 17 wherein said plush toy comprises one of a monkey, dog, a cat, a bear, a horse, a unicorn, an alien and a dinosaur. 